Training for CSOs Held on Conflict-Related Sexual Violence

Between June and August 2022, GRC’s Ruby Mae Axelson participated as a trainer in five training sessions under the auspices of the MATRA-project on conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) for Ukrainian CSOs organised jointly by Women’s Initiatives for Gender Justice (‘WIGJ’) and the Ukrainian Legal Advisory Group (‘ULAG’). This training reflected the needs of civil society working on CRSV in the context of Russia’s latest invasion of Ukraine and sought to build upon local expertise and best practices when documenting CRSV.

 The training was interactive and included sessions on an introduction to CRSV and gender-sensitive approaches to investigations (9 June 2022), interacting with victims of CRSV and interviewing techniques (16 June 2022), classifying crimes and recognising the elements of international crimes relevant to CRSV (23 June 2022), and evidentiary standards in CRSV cases, including the role of corroboration and overcoming negative and gendered myths and stereotypes when documenting CRSV crimes (4 August 2022). A separate interactive interview role-play was held on 21 July 2022, during which participants identified and discussed good and bad practices when interviewing victims of CRSV.